Local firm buys Fairfield Castings

Photo by: Nicole Major/Ledger photosFairfield Castings was purchased after an auction held Wednesday.

After an auction Wednesday evening, Fairfield Castings LLC was sold to a new ownership group called Faircast, Inc.

This comes after Fairfield Castings sent out a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification to all of its employees, explaining that the company had been operating under a forbearance agreement with its secured lender, and that an active sale process would be concluded on or around July 31, 2017.

According to a Fairfield Economic Development Association press release, Faircast, Inc., is comprised of a group of local investors, which purchased certain assets of Fairfield Castings.

“Based on what information we have thus far, I am very optimistic,” said FEDA executive director Josh Laraby. “Out of all the possible outcomes that could have come from the auction, I think this will be very positive for Fairfield overall. We look forward to providing more information as details come forward, including information about employment opportunities and dates of when production will begin with Faircast, Inc.”

Fairfield Mayor Ed Malloy said he was optimistic about the sale.

“I think it’s a great outcome for all of our community that it will be local ownership going forward we don’t have any details about the continuing operation or what level or scale it will be. We don’t know if it will be fully operational. We will just wait for more details. But I think It will be very positive for the community to have local ownership,” said Malloy. “I know this will be a great relief to the workers who were living with uncertainty for the past week, so we hope that as many jobs as possible will be retained and that the company will continue in Fairfield.”

Prior to its close, Fairfield Casting had been operating under a forbearance agreement with its lender and on June 19, the firm received notice from its lender that it intended to sell the company’s assets Wednesday.

Employees subsequently received a layoff notice dated June, 21, which stated that the company did not have plans for a recall.

In response to the needs of the displaced workers, FEDA organized a job fair from 3-6 p.m. July 6 at the Fairfield Best Western.

“We decided to have the job fair before we had any news on the new ownership,” Laraby said. “Learning that most of the foundry employees were laid off and displaced last week under the previous ownership, and prior to learning about who the new ownership would be, FEDA wanted to immediately respond and organize to get any displaced workers back to work in Fairfield … almost all of the manufacturing companies in Fairfield have open positions and are currently hiring. There are immediate opportunities for folks to get back to work.”